


S1 E1: The Rise of Voltron

by knoxhannes



Series: Rewritten [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 21:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12491368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knoxhannes/pseuds/knoxhannes
Summary: The legend begins again.





	S1 E1: The Rise of Voltron

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a completely self-indulgent series I've been wanting to write for a long time! I've been planning it since season 2 but over time I've made a LOT of changes. I'm using canon mostly for base material but not necessary for my final product. I just finished this and wanted to complete the whole episode but I'm nervous about it getting deleted when I'm moving files for my final. I will be working on the next part very soon! I hope you enjoy.

 

Kerberos: Moon of Pluto

 

     On the surface of the moon, a large tripod machine extracts a sample from below. The man waiting rushes to take it out when he feels a hand on his shoulder. 

    "Easy son, this ice is delicate," he says through their comms. 

    The first man adjusts his hands, slowly pulling it out of the ice as told. It glistens a cool light blue in his fingertips, he can actually see his eyes reflected on the surface. As his eyes scan along the length he sees an upside down version of their pilot's face. "Amazing...Isn't this exciting Shiro?" 

    The third man holding the machine laughs. "You guys get a lot more excited about ice samples than I do."

    "This is history in the making," the eldest begins his speech. "Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth."

    The man holding the ice turns around smiling. "Think of it Dad! We could use those clues to learn more about prehistoric aliens!"

    He laughs, "Well then my life's work would be complete." 

    They are all interrupted by a rumble that shakes the ice right out of the first man's hands. 

    "What is that? Seismic activity?" The eldest man looks down and there's a large shadow creeping up at them. They turn in the direction it comes from, and see a large space ship so close to Kerberos.

    "What is that?" The first man stands as frozen as the ice around them

    "It can't be..." 

    The third man shakes them both, "Run! Get back to the ship!"

    They turn, running as fast and as far as they are physically able to when they are all suddenly lifted off the ground in a purple beam and everything goes black.

 

 

    When Shiro comes to, he hears a an unfamiliar voice speaking. He blinks and the room comes into focus. He's kneeling, his hands tied behind his back as if he were some sort of criminal. A creature he's never seen before is standing before a screen, speaking to what seems to be his superior.

    "Emperor Zarkon, we were scouting system X9Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists. I don't think they know anything useful."

    "Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation." The creature on the screen has a voice that sounds like it could cut through solid stone. "The druids will find out what they know."

    Shiro feels chills crawl up his spine as he turns to see his comrades next to him in the same position. The only difference is his helmet is off while theirs' remain on their head.

    Panic sets in. "Please! We come from a peaceful planet, we-we mean you know harm. We're unarmed!"

    A hard jab at the back of his head silences him once again. 

    When he comes to this time he is being dragged through a large hallway. Not everything is in focus this time, but he hears voices from the wall, or prison doors, saying "They brought in another one" and "Who is it?"

    He looks up through the window, and he sees so many prison cells.

 

 

One Year Later

 

    "Galaxy Garrison flight log 51114: Begin to descent to Kerberos for rescue mission."

    The ship shifts down and the guy in the back groans and clutches his stomach. "Lance! Can you keep this thing straight?"

    The pilot scoffs, "Relax Hunk, I'm just gettin a feel for the stick. I mean it's not like I did THIS-"

    He surges forward. Hunk wheezes.

    "Or this."

    He swerves right. Hunk braces for impact.

    Once the ship mellows out he exhales. "Ok, unless you wanna wipe beef stroganoff out of all the nooks and crannies in this thing you better knock it off man!"

    Before Lance can answer,  a beeping comes from the other side of the ship.

    "We've picked up a distress beacon!" the third boy reports.

    "Alright look alive team," Lance shifts his controls, getting down to business. "Pidge, track coordinates."

    "Copy." Another rumble goes through the ship.

    "Knock it off Lance, please!" Hunk calls again.

    "Well this one's on you buddy, we got a hydrolic stabilizer out." 

    Hunk pulls his monitor to him when another shake happens. His face does nothing to conceal his motion sickness. "Oh no."

    Lance turns around again "Wh-NO FIX NOW PUKE LATER."

    "I've lost contact, the shaking is interferring with our sensors!" Pidge calls to them.

    "Come on Hunk!"

    Hunk shakes his head, "It's not responding," and he unbuckles his seatbelt to check out the problem.

    Another sound catches Lance's attention on screen. "Oh nevermind fellas. Thar she blows. Preparing for approach on visual."

    "I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and" Pidge turns to see Hunk vomit into the box, "gastro-intestinal issues."

    "Agreed," Hunk calls weakly.

    "Stop worrying. This baby can handle anything, can't ya champ?" A large distressing noise comes from the ship. "SEE? Sh-She was nodding. She was nodding. Pidge yell down to them and let them know that their ride is here."

    Pidge sighs as he unbuckles his seatbelt, standing straight up on his seat to reach the radio. 

    "Attention Lunarvesse-AH" A swerve makes him stumble straight onto the floor.

    "What are you doing? Buckle your belt, and Hunk! Stop that shaking!"

    "I'm tryi-" Hunk vomits into the box once again.

    Grabbing the radio dangling in front of him Pidge tries once again, "Attention Lunarvessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango! Coming in for landing and extraction. Against crew recommendations."

    "No time for your mutinous comments now, Pidge. They're going under and we're going in." Lance dives foward.

    "Look out for that overhang!"

    "No worries- You know my first year in flight school you know what they called me? They called me the tailor because of how i thread the needle." Lance smirks as he makes the innuendo. As he turns however, another crash is heard.

    "We lost a wing!" Hunk screams.

    Lance groans.

 

   SIMULATION FAILED

 

 

    "Nice work, Tailor." Pidge says sarcastically.

    "Roll out Donkeys!" Iverson's thunderous voice commands them as soon as the door opens.

    With their heads hung low, they exit the test chamber to line up and await their evaluation.

    Iverson must be in a bad mood today, because he doesn't even give the cadets a chance to explain themselves. Instead he immediately addresses the rest of the class. "Well let's see if we can't use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?"

    Hands shoot up immediately.

    "The engineer puked in the main gear box."

    "Yes! As everyone knows vomit is not," he turns to Hunk who flinches, "an approved lubricant for engine systems."

    "The comspec removed his safety harness-"

    "The pilot crashed!"

    "Correct, and worst of all, they're arguing with each other! If you're going to be this individually you better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers. But these kind of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos mission!"

    Pidge's head shoots up, "That's not true sir!"

    "What did you say?!" 

    Before Pidge can say anymore Lance covers his mouth with his hand, "Sorry sir! I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken!"

    Iverson shifts, changing targets to Lance as he steps right in front of his face. "I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps."

    Lance remains still as Iverson calls the next group in. 

 

 

    "Lights out in five!" Iverson calls through the hallways of the dorms. "Everyone back to their rooms, now."

    Lance and Hunk peek from the corner they hide behind, making sure Iverson walks in the opposite direction.

    "We shouldn't be doing this."

    "You heard Commander Iverson, we need to bond as a team. We're gonna grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls and maybe-"

    "Ok ok but I'm just saying this here, right now on the record- this is a bad idea."

    The lights go out and Lance jumps up, walking carefully through the darkened hallway. As soon as he sees no one else is there he starts running, Hunk following close behind him.

    "You know for someone in a space exploration program you don't have much of a sense of adventure."

    "All of your little adventures end up with me in the principal's office!" Hunk chastises. 

    After a few dodges and hiding spots ("Trash cans? Really?" Hunk hisses) they finally reach Pidge's dorm room. Before they can knock, the door slides open, making Lance jump and drag Hunk out of sight on instinct. Pidge exits down the hall quickly as he came out.

    "Where is he going?" Lance asks suspiciously. Hunk doesn't have an answer, Hunk just wants to go home.

    They follow, curiosity getting the better of them when they could just leave on their own. They find Pidge on the rooftop sitting in between the Garrison's solar panels. He's using some computers, typing away listening intently to something with large headphones on.

    Lance sneaks up quietly, before lifting one ear and whispering, "You come out here to rock out?"

    Pidge's shriek is quite frankly, girlish, in Lance's opinion. And so is the excuse Pidge gives, "um no just looking at the stars."

    He hums in a "yeah you're lying" kinda way. "Where'd you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison Tech."

    "I built it," Pidge says proudly. 

    "You built all this?" Hunk tries to touch a monitor but gets his hand slapped.

    "Yeah, with this thing I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system." 

    "Is that right? All the way to Kerberos?"

    Pidge flinches, turning away from the both of them. Hunk uses this as an opportunity to try and touch the little satellite dish.

    "You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up, what's your deal?"

    "Second warning Hunk," Pidge snaps. Hunk whines.

    "Look dude if we're gonna bond as a team then we can't have any secrets. Comprede mi amigo?" Lance's accent was horrible towards the end.

    He sighs. "Fine. I've done some digging and I think I found a cover up. The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake- KNOCK IT OFF HUNK!"

    Hunk whines again, falling over with boredom.

    "...so I've been scanning the system and picking up...alien radio chatter."

    This startles Hunk out of his sorry state, "WHA-Aliens?"

    Lance rolls his eyes. "Ok, so you're insane. Got it."

    "I'm serious! They keep repeating one word, voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it."

    "Crazy like you?" Lance jokes.

    Before he can get a response, Commander Iverson's voice booms from the speakers, "ATTENTION STUDENTS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE ARE ON LOCK DOWN. SECURITY SITUATION ZULU NINER. REPEAT. ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REMAIN IN BARRACKS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

    Hunk stands up and murmurs "What's going on? IS THAT A METEOR?"

    He points to the sky and sure enough, something bright and red is flying straight down to them.

    "A very...very big meteor?"

    Pidge rummages in his backpack and pulls out a pair of binoculars. "It's a ship!"

    Lance takes them right off of his face and drags him over, hands still clutching on them, to get his peek. "Holy crap! I can't believe this, that definitely isn't a Garrison ship."

    "No, it's one of theirs!"

    "So wait, there really are aliens out there?!" Hunk feels fear climb up his spine.

    As soon as the ship crashes down onto earth, Garrison Vehicles are in motion, heading toward the site.

    Pidge hops up, collecting all of his belongings into his bag. "We gotta see that ship!"

    And he's running off before Lance can tell him about their previous evening plans. 

    "Ugh. Hunk C'mon."

    Hunk stops his mid-sneak away back into the dorms and groans "worst bonding exercise ever."

 

 

    About an hour later, they've all made it to the crash site. Or as close as they could get without being spotted. Lance is on watch duty, reporting any movements to his team. Unfortunately, most of these reports include the Hot Officer Lady who went in ten minutes ago, and just came back out. A slap on the back of the head from Pidge gets his focus back.

    "Right. Alien ship, yeah. Man, we'll never get past those guards to get a closer look."

    "Ah well. Nothing we can do. Guess we gotta head back to the barracks right?" Hunk stands up, ready to go already.

    "Wait," Pidge stops him, "they set up a camera in there and I grabbed it's feed. Look!"

    On the monitor screen a man is shown strapped down to a gourney. He's surrounded by men in hazmat suits, who appear to be trying to talk with him. But the man screams in their faces, "You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!"

    "That's Takashi Shirogane!" Lance exclaims, "He's the pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy's my hero!"

    "Guess he's not dead in space after all." Hunk comments.

    Pidge's heartbeat beats louder than drums, both of the other team members can feel it with their hands on his back. "Then where's the rest of the crew?"

    "Do you know how long you've been gone?" A hazmat man asks Shiro.

    "I dunno, months, years? Look, there's no time! Aliens are coming here- for a weapon. They're probably on their way here right now! They'll destroy us unless we find Voltron!"

    At this last word, the eavesdropping trio jump.

    "Sir take a look at this, it appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."

    "Put him under until we know what that thing can do."

    Shiro starts panicking,"No no no no DON'T PUT ME UNDER!"

    As he's silenced Pidge clenches his fists. "They didn't listen to him and they didn't ask about the rest of the crew."

    "Are you kidding me? This guy's a legend!"

    "We have to get him out." Pidge is filled with determination as he repacks his belongings.

    "Ahem, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren't we just watching that on Pidge's TV because there's no way of getting past those guards?"

    "That was before we were heroically motivated. Now we just gotta think. Can we tunnel in?" Lance checks his pockets for forgotten spoons.

    "Maybe we can snatch some of those hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs."

    "With your height we could just pull the "lost child" card." Pidge punches him in the arm for that.

    "Or we dress up as cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the chef's secret chocolate cupboard, and get a little late night snack."

    Lance blinks. "No what we need is a distraction."

    As soon as the words are out of his mouth a large series of booms go off, and Lance Hunk and Pidge turn to see it's coming from an area farther from the original crash site.

    Hunk is the first to scream, "IS THAT THE ALIENS? ARE THEY HERE NOW? ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?!"

    "No, those explosions were a distraction, for him!" Pidge points to some large rocks down below where someone jumps off his hover vehicle to sneak in. 

    Lance grabs the binoculars and gasps, "No way. Nuh uh! He's not one-upping me this time!"

    "Who is it?" Hunk's confusion eases his initial fear.

    "KEITH!" 

    Lance runs off before Pidge can ask "who the hell is Keith?" With a sigh he and Hunk run off to join Lance.

 

    Inside the tent the Garrison has put up, Keith opens the lab doors to see a bunch of scientists surrounding whatever came from that ship.

    "These readings are off the chart-HEY!" They charge first.

    On impulse Keith backs up into his defensive stance. With just a few kicks, they're all down. He hops over them to check what-who is strapped to the gourney. As he turns the person's face, he freezes when he recognizes who it is. "Shiro."

    He doesn't have a lot of time, so he uses the knife he always carries with him to cut the straps. Shiro's still unconscious, so he's slung over a shoulder when-

    "Nope nope no no no no no no you don't I'm saving Shiro."

    Suddenly there's three new people here, and they don't look like Garrison officials. None of them look like they could be older than him. The one who spoke imposes himself under Shiro's other arm to mimic Keith's stance.

    "Who are you?"

    "Who am I? Uh, the name's Lance." When that doesn't strike a reaction from the other he continues, "We were in same class at the Garrison."

    "You an engineer?"

    Lance sputters, "NO I'M A PILOT! We were literally rivals, Lance and Keith ya know neck and neck."

    "Oh I remember now, you were that cargo pilot."

    "Well not anymore, I'm fighter class now thanks to your little meltdown last year."

    "Congratulations," Keith says dryly.

    "Hurry up!" The short one snaps. The other two are already out the door, neither of them dragging a hundred-something pound unconscious guy.

    The big one has eyes set to where the explosions were. "Aw man Aw man they are coming back and they do NOT look happy. We gotta go!"

    They follow Keith and Lance to Keith's hovercycle. "Do you mind if we catch a ride with you?"

    And without waiting for an answer they both hop on before Keith can even say no. As the big one hops on the tail the whole thing lifts up at the front like a seesaw.

    "Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" the short one asks.

    "No!" Keith snaps.

    But it's too late, the Garrison vehicles have already spotted them and are closing in. Without a second thought Keith starts it up, and Lance almost falls off. 

    "Here, Pidge!" He hands Shiro into his arms.

    "What? Why am I holding this guy?" Although he protests, his arms wrap around him tightly with no chance of letting go.

    "Hey we did all fit!" The big one exclaims.

    Lance turns back to see the cars gaining speed. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

    "We could toss out some non-essential weight." Keith deadpans, eyes still focused on the road ahead.

    "Oh right," Lance pauses to look around. "Oh you were just being a dick, I get it-"

    "BIG MAN LEAN LEFT!"

    Hunk jerks to his left as ordered and the cycle goes in a new direction. Behind them a few cars toss over themselves. "OH MAN MR. HARRIS JUST RAN OVER PROFESSOR MONTGOMERY! Wait no he's fine."

    "BIG MAN LEAN RIGHT!"

    Hunk jerks again and they dive off a small cliff onto a new road. Here some cars fall too. Just one last car still on their tail.

    "WAIT IS THAT A CLIFF UP AHEAD?" Hunk points forward.

    Keith grins, "Yup."

    Both Lance and Pidge start screaming, but it's too late. 

    As they dive down Lance screams "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU'RE GONNA KILL US ALL!"

    "Shut up and trust me!" At the last moment before they hit the ground Keith pulls the break, they bounce off air and he flies them away.

 

 

 

 

 

    When Shiro awakes this time, he is in his own room again. For just a moment, he believes the illusion that everything he endured for the past year was just a dream. But the sounds of the metal joints in his fingers confirm the truth. He had escaped.

    He slowly rises out of bed, stretching the kinks out of his neck. Whatever anesthetic the scientists used worked fast last night. But that doesn't explain how he ended up back here in his own home. He stills for a moment, wondering why there's no sound coming from the rest of the house. The clock beside his bed reads 6:52 AM in bright red letters. Too early for the sun to be up. But the light in his room is on, so the people who put him here were waiting for him to wake. They probably still are.

    It's been a very long time since he left earth. He knows that much. At least a year, but most likely more. It felt like at least ten fighting in the arena. His robotic hand clenches at a few particular memories that pop up. He shoves them down into the back of his mind, standing up and looking around to distract himself. 

    The prisoner uniform he wears itches, so he grabs the nearest things in his closet and puts them on. It feels good to wear actual clothes again, cementing the reality that he's back on Earth.

    He looks around the contents of his desk. Obviously Keith has been using it while he was gone, because there's equipment and papers he doesn't recognize. Notebooks are stacked at the bottom, from his Garrison days. He even sees his old film camera, the one Commander Holt gave him.

    Underneath the camera, he sees the newspaper.

 

KERBEROS MISSION DISAPPEARS FROM PILOT ERROR

 

 

    Shiro swallows heavily when he realizes, he's the only one who came back. The Garrison most likely reported them dead to the public because it was the only conclusion they could draw. Commander and Matt Holt's family were told they were dead, and they blamed him.

    From one of the drawers he pulls out an address book- searching through the latest entries for the number he needs to call. It's still so early, but depending on how long he's been gone- it feels too late. As soon as he finds it he grabs the phone and punches in the numbers. The dialtone doesn't even ring when an automated voice says into his ear, "We are sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service, please hang up and try-"

    Shiro hangs up. He shudders to think of the possibilities of what this could mean now.

    Taking a deep breath, he opens the door and walks out of the room. He has no idea who brought him here or what they want so he keeps on guard. When he reaches the living room, the sun is just peeking through the window now. There laying on the couch are three kids he doesn't recognize. The longest-looking one is slumped over the side in the most uncomfortable position possible, knocked out. The biggest one is lying back, completely relaxed on the other side of the couch with loud snores coming out of his mouth. And the shortest one is awake, typing away at his computer with his back to Shiro. His hair is cut the same way Matt's was.

    "Shiro?" a voice to his left calls quietly. He turns and sees Keith. The typing at the computer stops.

    Keith looks the same, so the time he was gone couldn't have been too long. But the way Keith looks at him now, like a dead man walking, tells him it was long enough.

    "I...I need a minute." Shiro's out the door. 

    The sun's risen now, and to bask in this warmth after fighting in a dark cage for so long is like waking up from a dream. His robotic hand feels heavier than usual here. He doesn't know how long he stares at it, but suddenly Keith's hand is at his shoulder.

    "It's good to have you back."

    He jerks, but adjusts himself. "Hah...it's good to be back."

    The hand is removed. "What happened out there? Where...were you?"

    Shiro shakes his head, "I wish I could tell you. My head's still pretty scrambled."

    He furrows his eyebrows trying to search for what exactly happened. An abduction, yes. He was hit a few times. And the arena. Then aliens? How did he even escape?

    He turns to Keith, "How did you know to come save me when I crashed?"

    "You should come see this..." he heads back to the house and Shiro follows.

    When he walks through the door, he sees everyone else is awake now. Keith walks right past them to a wall covered in a white sheet.

    "Who are your friends?"

    "I don't know them, they just followed me last night and stole a ride from me."

    "I told you the name's Lance! And we were there first!" The lankiest one yells.

    Keith ignores him and pulls the white sheet off. Underneath, it looks like a conspiracy board. Complete with pictures, articles, even yarn.

    "What have you been working on?" Shiro gasps. This wasn't here when he left.

    "You were gone for a year and a half. In that time I got booted from the Garrison. I sorta...lost myself. But I felt drawn out to this place. It's like something, some energy was telling me to search."

    "For what?"

    "I didn't really know at the time until I stumbled across this area," he points to the center of the map where he wrote ENERGY SOURCE in thick Sharpie. "It's an outcropping of giant boulders with a series of caves covered with ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion. But they all share clues, leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. And then you showed up."

    Shiro doesn't know what to say to that. So he turns to the three in the back. "I should thank you all for getting me out. You're Lance, right?"

    He holds out a hand and Lance blinks, his attitude toward Shiro completely different from how he addressed Keith before. Lance gingerly takes the hand offered to him and smiles sheepishly.

    Shiro turns to the others, but the biggest one doesn't take the hand. The shortest one does and says, "The nervous guy's Hunk. I'm Pidge. So like, did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

    From the front, this kid looks even more like Matt. Shiro has to look away before answering. "I'm not sure. I remember the mission, being captured, fighting for my life. But most of it is just a blur-"

    "Hey yeah sorry to interrupt, but what about the aliens? Are they here now? Are they coming for all of us? Where are they at this exact moment?"

    "I can't really put it together...I remember the word Voltron. I think it's a weapon they're looking for. We need to find it before they do."

    Hunk nods, "Ok well last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff- found a picture of his girlfriend by the way-" He takes out a photo but before anyone can see it Pidge snatches it out of his hands.

    "What were you doing looking through my stuff?" He snaps.

    "Well I was looking for a candy bar, but then I started reading his diary," Pidge yoinks that out of his hand too, "and I realized the repeating sets of numbers the aliens are looking for looks a lot like a Fraunhauper line."

    "A what?" Keith asks.

    "It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element. Only this element doesn't exist on earth. So like, maybe it's this Voltron thing? Anyway i think I can build a machine to look for this thing. Like a Voltron Geiger counter?"

    "Hunk you big gassy genius!" Lance laughs.

 

    After some modifications to Pidge's equipment (and some calculators kindly donated by Keith) they set out following the readings of the "Voltron Locator 3000" as Hunk calls it. The path leads them down to a cave when the machine starts beeping erratically.

    "Ok I admit it, this is super freaky." Lance groans. "Guess your stupid cave gremlin hobbies came in handy."

    The cave itself is covered with ancient carvings of lions and other animals. Everything looks strangely undisturbed.

    "What are these?"

    "These are the markings I was telling you about," Keith explains. "They're everywhere around here."

    "Don't touch anything Lance-" Hunk begins but it's too late. 

    Lance was just in the middle of wiping some dust away from an image when a blue light glows from all the carvings in the cave. Everyone gasps as the ground starts to shake.

    "They've never done that before!" 

    Suddenly a blue light shines through the cracks of the floor below them, and it crumbles away. They fall, all screaming, down an underground ravine before smacking on the ground in a puddle at the bottom. 

    Lance is the first to get out, taking off his wet jacket and shivering in the feeling of wet socks. As he looks up, he sees it. 

    A giant blue robotic lion, surrounds by a blue energy field.

    As everyone else stands up to see, Pidge speaks first, "Is this the voltron?"

    "It must be," Shiro answers.

    "This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here." Keith walks forward first to press his hands on the energy dome. "I think this is a force field."

    Lance follows. A nervous feeling crawls up his spine, like someone is watching his every move. "Anyone get the feeling that thing is staring at them?"

    "No?" 

    He jerks to the left, then the right, then the left again. "Yeah those eyes are totally following me..."

    The lion makes no move to confirm or deny this.

    Keith hesitantly touches the field first, making sure it doesn't injure any of them. It's safe, but he can't press through it. And attacking it might trigger some unwarranted responses. "...I wonder how we get through this."

    "Well maybe you just have to knock," Lance jokes. He slides right up next to Keith and double-taps his hand on it and gets an immediate reaction. Starting from where his hands touched, blue sparks fly and a large bell rings from the lion. Its big eyes glow in recognition and the field lifts. From the cave floor more markings glow, and wind rushes up into everyone's faces. 

    A vision appears in Lance's mind. There are five lions now, each a different color of purple, red, green, yellow, and this blue. They soar up to the sky, flying in formation to meet at a point in the sky. There, they combine and become something else. Something new. Something amazing.

    Voltron.

    Lance comes back to reality, his vision a bit shaky, and he turns around to face the others. "Did...did anyone else see that?"

    Hunk's immediate response as soon as Lance finishes his words is, "Voltron is a robot! A huge, huge robot!"

    "And this thing is only one part of it," Pidge adds. "I wonder where the rest of those lions are."

    "This is what they're looking for," Shiro says.

    "Incredible," Keith agrees.

    The blue lion adjusts then, bending down to face the humans below. Pidge and Hunk scream, both rush to hide behind Keith and Shiro. Lance would join them, but something in his heart tells him this lion means no harm. He remains still in awe of it's...her size.

    Her jaw opens and they see it as a ramp into the inside. While the others are frozen, Lance shouts "SHOTGUN!" and runs in. Before anyone can stop him he jumps into the pilot's seat. As soon as he's seated the chair lurches forward and holographic screens appear at his dashboard. Either this is a really awesome dream or he was really going to pilot an alien spaceship. "Here we go!"

    (And this couldn't be a dream, he would've met his beautiful magical elf bride-to-be if it were.)

    Everyone else slowly walk in. The lion herself wasn't small but this cockpit is a bit cramped. Lance relishes the leg room and figures everyone else can deal with it.

    "Ok everyone. I just feel the need point out, just to catch up myself here mostly, we are all inside a giant alien cat head right now," Hunk says.

    Some bells chime in Lance's head.

    "Whoa did you guys hear that too?" he exclaims. First the vision now this?

    "Hear what?" Keith asks.

    "I think it just spoke to me..." Lance looked over his controls. He pressed three of the buttons and the lion moved, immediately getting up and roaring.

    Pidge and Hunk shriek again, both still wary of this thing.

    "Let's try this," with a thrust of the handles Lance shoves the lion through the walls of the cave and it bursts out into the open. This really gets everyone screaming. The lion leaps around and Lance tries out some of the buttons. One of them powers the thrusters, good to know!

    Keith is behind the pilot chair without a seatbelt so he takes the opportunity of grabbing Lance by the neck and screams, "YOU ARE! THE WORST! PILOT! EVER!"

 

 

    Back at the Garrison, two men spot what's going on in the distance.

    "What in the name of Superman's Crystal Kingdom is that?" Bruce Wayne says.

    Commander Iverson's jaw hangs open as he stares through his binoculars. "I-It appears to be a flying blue lion, Mr. Wayne sir."

 

 

    Meanwhile the lion continues to jump around, getting her new pilot used to the controls.

    "Isn't this awesome?" Lance screams.

    "Make it stop please I'm going to barf in here too!" Hunk looks close to tears, heavy breathing already happening. 

    "I'm not making it do anything, it's like it's on autopilot!"

    Suddenly the back thrusters start and they shoot up into the air. 

    "Where are you going?!" Keith snaps.

    "I just said it's on autopilot!" Lance yells back, "Now it's saying there's an alien ship approaching Earth?"

    "What did it say exactly?" Pidge asks.

    "Well it's not actually talking more like feeding ideas into my head?"

    "Look guys," Hunk starts, attempting to regain composure, "if this thing is the weapon they're looking for, why don't we just, i don't know, GIVE IT TO THEM? Maybe they'll leave us alone."

    Shiro's already shaking his head, "You don't understand these monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy. They colonize and destroy everything in their path, there's no bargaining with them."

    Hunk looks away taking a deep breath, "Oh. Nevermind. Sorry Lion, nothing personal."

    By now the ride along has become less bumpy and wild. They've broken the atmosphere. Before they can even take in the sights of outer space, another, much larger ship comes into view.

    "Shit, is that really an alien ship?" Hunk yells.

    Shiro, who he was addressing, doesn't appear to have heard him. Instead he whispers, "They found me..."

    Weapons start firing and Lance barely manages to dodge them. He goes to the side of the ship for a better view, but lasers come from there too.

    "We gotta get out of here!" Pidge tells him.

    "Alright hang on!" Lance attempts to retry some of the moves the lion showed him mere minutes ago on Earth. Her agility is amazing, it feels so natural. "Ok, I think I know what to do!"

    "Be careful man, this isn't a simulator!" Pidge yells into his face.

    "Well that's good, I always wreck the simulator!"

    He experiments with the instructions the lion just gave him, thrusting only one handle forward. The blue lion's mouth opens for a laser beam to burst out and hit the side of the ship. 

    "Let's try this!" Lance has an idea of his own. He drives the lion forwards straight into the part of the shit the laser hit and drags claws all along the side of it. It reminds Lance of the time he helped his friend key a car in eighth grade. 

    A few explosions go off and the crowd behind him cheers. He hears a few "Yeah!"s and even a "Nice job Lance!" 

    "Ok, time to get these guys away from out planet." He doubles back, shooting them farther into the distance and away from Earth.

    The ship pursues, this time not attacking. It gains speed and his friends shake his shoulders to get him to go faster.

    "That's weird, they're just chasing now?"

    "So what, aliens following us is supposed to be good?" Hunk snarks. "I'm not on board with this!"

    "Where are we?" Keith asks, leaning too far into Lance's space and trying to look through the screen.

    "This is the edge of the solar system...Look! That's Kerberos!" Shiro points to a planet-no moon- they pass.

    "But it takes months for our ships to get out here! We here in just minutes!" Great, Pidge is in his space too now.

    Suddenly a shape in the distance appears. Unlike the asteroids, moons, and planets they've passed this looks vibrant and alive.

    "Guys this may seem crazy but I think the lion wants us to go through there!" 

    "Where does it go?" Something about Pidge's tone is off now, Lance takes a glance and sees he genuinely looks scared. He turns to Hunk and he's wearing the same look.

    "I...I don't know. Shiro? You're the senior officer here. What should do we do?"

    Shiro tries not to crowd whatever leftover space Lance has but moves forward enough so that he can be seen. "Whatever's happening, the lion clearly knows more about it than we do. I say we trust it. But we're all in this together, we should all decide." 

    Pidge puts his hand on Lance's shoulder and nods. When he hears no voice in disagreement from Keith or Hunk he says, "Alright, I guess we're all ditching class tomorrow."

    They pass right through. And just before the next alien ship can follow in suit, the portal closes.

 

 

End of Part One.


End file.
